Dead Magic (6 page)

Three strides from the doorway, Winslow summoned his Talent and took off running. Weaving around trees and leaping small bushes, he let his magic guide him on the hunt. There were fresh rabbit tracks and he followed them, concentrating so hard on locating the animal that he almost missed the Warding Pillars. Stopping just on the verge of crossing, Winslow caught his breath in his chest.

At some point in his run he'd pushed his magic to show him the unseen, the reality just beyond what the Untalented could see. It was the place where the Warding Pillars dwelt. Only the Pillars in front of him were crumbling and deteriorated.

"Mother, Maiden and Crone!" He blinked up at them as fear chilled his body.

On the other side of the barrier, he could see a feline creature staring back at him. Large and magnificent, striped with orange and white, it prowled outside of the Pillars, pacing. Winslow could feel its great paws as they struck the ground, could sense its hateful gaze through the thin vale.

"Fates have mercy," Winslow stared back at it, feeling suddenly small and insignificant.

Elsie Delgora was right.

Elsie took some small enjoyment in the curious manner that Valeda Quinlan presented to her. The girl was genuinely interested in nearly every facet of Elsie's life; from her humble upbringing to her fight against Vicaress Reonne. Valeda showed dismay at the thought of the late Vicaress's murderous appetite, and was baffled about the creature known as the Dellidus. The insatiable wild serpent known as the Dellidus was a thing of legend, a nightmare told to children at bedtime to keep them away from the Warding Pillars.

Elsie could sense the shocked disbelief coursing through the woman as they hiked through the jungle. Pausing for a moment, Elsie flicked her long braid over one shoulder and considered the steep slope in front of them. For reasons she couldn't fathom, she'd decided to take Miss Quinlan to Witch-Eater Lake by foot. Horses would have been preferable, there was no one to hide from anymore, but it seemed that old habits died hard. Even after eight years, Elsie had trouble not glancing over her shoulder. She always took note of every exit in a room the moment she entered it, sized up all threats that might be presented from the people around her, and covered her own tracks through the moist Delgora dirt.

"Is it much further?" Valeda asked. "Not that I mind walking, My Lady, just that the tropics feel heavy."

It was in that moment that Elsie noted how breathless her companion was. The red in the woman's hair shone out defiantly among the dark brown locks, and several curls looked damp in the humid air. Valeda's angular, bird-like features were flush from heat and exertion, and as curious as the girl was, she was also quite annoyed at her current situation.

That odd brilliance to her, the mark of being Fated, seemed to burn more brightly in the private setting. At first, Valeda had been reluctant and uncertain, not wanting to accompany a House Witch on a trek through the jungle, alone. There was mistrust and not a small amount of paranoia in her. Elsie didn't like that, but she didn't know how to fix it, either.

"Just a bit further, yes."

Valeda paused to catch her breath, propping both hands on her hips in a manner that exemplified her irritation. Elsie became distractedly pleased by the fit of the woman's trousers, blouse and bodice-vest. Elsie was proud of the outfit. The vest cinched tight around Valeda's torso, accenting feminine curves in a subtle sort of allure, and the colors were more appropriate for the woman's skin and hair; a deep briny green with swirls of maroon throughout.

She smiled in spite of Valeda's increasing agitation.

Elsie had whispered a truth spell into the thread, encouraging her Talent to permeate the garment. If the girl was a spy from another House, Elsie needed to know. While the spell couldn't outright tell her such a secret, it could show the nature of the woman. The internal aspects of Valeda were reflected on the outside, plain for Elsie to see. And Elsie was happy with what she saw.

Rather than twisted and wretched, as a mean-spirited person might appear, Valeda's features had not changed. If anything, Miss Quinlan looked sharper, more focused, with a nervous smile and an almost unsettling honesty.

"Are you taking me to the ark?" Valeda asked bluntly.

Elsie smiled some more, careful not to show her surprise. Regardless of her good nature, Miss Quinlan was a reporter. The last thing Elsie needed was another news report about Delgora matters. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Miss Quinlan."

"I saw it last night. From my window." Valeda's soft gray eyes narrowed at her. "On the southern ridgeline."

Elsie chuckled and turned away, resuming their hike before she answered. "First of all, Miss Quinlan, you'll notice the position of the mid-morning sun is directly to our right. You, being an educated woman, are well aware of the sun's rotation from east to west, which would make our current trajectory due north of Delgora Manor."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Valeda look to the sky and frown. "That doesn't deny what I saw last night."

"Secondly," Elsie continued without acknowledging the comment, "even if I were inclined to divulge Delgora House matters to you, Miss Quinlan, my better sense knows that your profession cannot be trusted."

"I'm a reporter, not an idiot. If you required my silence, you would have it. I'd never cross a Witch."

"A person's sense of self-preservation can only keep them quiet for so long, Miss Quinlan. It has been my experience that the only thing you can fully rely on in this life is the greed of the people around you." Elsie crested the hill and stopped again, waiting for Valeda to catch up.

"His Lordship . . ." Valeda panted as she reached the top of the hill, "His Lordship might take offense at that viewpoint."

Grinning, Elsie winked at the woman. "Dorian would be an exception to that rule. But I applaud you on your growing sense of confidence around me. There are few Untalented who would risk such a comment."

Valeda blushed and squirmed, glancing away from her. "It's the miserable heat. It brings out the testy side of me, My Lady."

"I thought it might." With an easy gesture, Elsie directed Valeda's attention to the clearing before them.

Valeda opened her mouth as though to protest, but suddenly stopped. Sharp peaks and hundreds of waterfalls stole her attention. Elsie stood back and watched, all too familiar with the deceptive beauty surrounding them. Witch-Eater Lake commanded the center of the clearing, churning its depths with many waterfalls that scattered about the cliff face. Each mountain peak was dark with greenery, looking as though in constant shadow, defiantly tall and treacherously steep. The Warding Pillars were several miles to the north, but the presence of the Wild raged through the landscape.

Elsie felt when it started to lure Valeda in. It was a distinctly welcoming feeling; a warmth that promised safety to the subconscious levels of Valeda's mind. The reporter took a step forward and Elsie grabbed her shoulder. Valeda blinked up at her, confusion clear on her face.

"This is Witch-Eater Lake, Miss Quinlan. It will happily drown you."

"It's Wild?"

Elsie nodded.

"But that's impossible." Valeda looked back at the lake and froze.

It's here.

The ominous announcement from Magic felt like a growl over her skin and Elsie was acutely aware of the tattoos on her arm. Under the long sleeves and gloves she could feel them, a constant prickle, like someone was stabbing her with a sewing needle over and over again. Magic never liked it when she visited the lake, but at least this time she'd known what to expect.

Elsie knew what she would find when she looked back at the lake, but his nearness still startled her. Standing just four steps away from them was the ghost-boy Baldemor Delgora.

He looked solid, though Elsie knew him not to be, and his movements were all jerky. She watched as he tilted his head to one side, which only amplified the sense of wretchedness about him.

"Who are you?" Valeda asked the boy.

Elsie heard the nervousness in her voice, but didn't try to support her. It had been three years since Baldemor had spoken to anybody and she wanted to see what might happen. Because Valeda was Untalented, the outcome might be different. His last reported words were by far the most alarming. Dorian said he'd paused to see the ghost, just checking on a hunch. Baldemor was normally seen playing at the shores of the lake, but this time the boy had stopped. Dorian described it as though the child had suddenly been struck by something unseen, and then he stood straight-rigidly straight-and moved to the edge of the clearing.

"It's time." Those were the last words.

But time for what?
Elsie wondered, gazing at the blue-tinged apparition.

No one in Magnellum had ventured past the Warding Pillars in any of their recorded history. They left the Wild alone, unless it somehow got through the Pillars like the Dellidus had. She couldn't understand where this animosity came from.

***

Valeda had the disturbing sensation of something very cold sliding down her spine. The only sound came from the waterfalls crashing into the lake just beyond, though Valeda could swear she heard a low, deep humming from the boy in front of her. He hadn't answered her yet and the House Witch had given no explanation, so Valeda kept quiet. If she was being honest, she was terrified.

There was something malicious about the boy, something intense and powerful that clung to him.

"In truth, Miss Quinlan, I'm not sure how to introduce you," Elsie said at last. "The form before you is that of Baldemor Delgora. Baldemor, however, has been dead for centuries."

Valeda swallowed down her fear. "Centuries?"

"Until recently he talked. Sometimes he would warn people away from the Lake. But he's changed now. He's more Wild than anything else." The Witch tugged at her earlobe and frowned. "The Wild is coming, Miss Quinlan. Very soon, I'm afraid."

Turning to look at her, Valeda rallied herself for her questions. It was the best opening she would have to confront the Witch and she had to take it. She found the boy's constant stare to be more than disturbing and had to concentrate to formulate the right words. In the end, the right words failed her and she reverted to bluntness.

"Magic is gone, isn't he," she stated.

For a Witch who had gone through as much as Elsie Delgora, Valeda was surprised at the lack of theatrics. Elsie didn't try to pretend not to know, she didn't hide the flash of pain in her eyes or the haunted way she looked at her gloved arm. The glove, peculiar as it was, caught Valeda's attention again and she wondered if the woman had been disfigured in some way.

"I am not permitted to speak on such things," Elsie said.

"Why not? If he's gone, then people need to know. We're all in danger."

"The people can be a danger to themselves at times."

"Poppycock!"

Elsie sent her a chilling glare that stopped Valeda from further argument. "Attempt not to insult me, Miss Quinlan. I of all people have seen the Untalented do great and terrible things for their own prestige."

Valeda flinched, remembering the horrid tale of how Vicaress Reonne had smuggled a Dellidus into Magnellum. It wasn't just murder that the serpentine creature had delivered, it was an ongoing torture for its victim. Valeda had thought the creature a thing of myth, until Elsie had disclosed how she'd had to garrote her father in order to get the Dellidus to detach from him. Only after her father's physical body was dead, was Elsie able to destroy the creature itself. Her matter-of-fact way of describing the death of her own father had the gravity of truth behind it.

Then her mind hooked onto the one important thing Elsie wasn't saying.

"Magic really is gone."

"Oh, no. I didn't say that. Magic is here. He's just . . . preoccupied."

"Why hasn't he blessed anyone with Talent in eight years?" Valeda pressed, glancing at the still staring form of Baldemor Delgora.

"Has it been that long?"

Valeda sensed the story here, all her instincts as a reporter throwing caution and propriety aside in the pursuit of the truth. "The last time he was seen was here in Delgora, eight years ago. On the day of your ascension to House Witch. You know more than you're telling me, Elsie Delgora."

"Of course I do, I'm a House Witch. Really now, Miss Quinlan, you've got to have a better argument than that."

Valeda stammered and flushed, feeling altogether overwhelmed by her own boldness and the Witch's frustrating evasiveness. Beside her, the creepy ghost continued to glare and she wondered for a moment why Elsie had brought her here. Of all the places in Delgora, the Witch had taken her to a murderous lake where a ghost could silently hate her. The seething, angry boy didn't even blink, he stood so still.

Valeda wasn't certain what she'd meant to do, she just wanted the boy to stop looking at her, so she raised her hand. It moved so fast it blurred and an icy grip clamped tightly around her wrist. A sudden, forceful tug nearly took her into the clearing, but Elsie moved just as fast.

"
Fellata!
" the Witch commanded, and just as fast as it had grabbed her, the ghost let go. The form of Baldemor Delgora flew away from them, pushed back by whatever spell Elsie had cast. He was swallowed up by the lake a moment later, the water eerily undisturbed by his passage.

Stunned, Valeda glanced from the lake to the Witch and back again. "I. . ."

"I have several jobs for you, Miss Quinlan, which you will do without question." Elsie continued to stare at the lake, frowning deeply.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The first of which is to go to Master Walter at Walter's School for Unfortunates in Lorant. You have to travel through Lorant to get home to Tormey, so this should pose no problem."

"Except that I already have an employer and don't wish to work for you." Valeda wasn't certain why she was being so obstinate, but there was something infuriating in the smile on the Witch's face.

"Oh, you want to work for me, Miss Quinlan. Because I'm going to give you what you want." Elsie finally turned from the lake. "Do these few things for me, and I will give you the location of Magic."